Okay we are talking about living – not thriving, not excelling, not having true success. You can probably name these 5 things, which we will elaborate on in a moment.

1. Air, so you can breathe.

2. Shelter of some kind to protect you.

3. Food/water, to keep you alive.

4. Someone or something you care about.

5. Hope.

Now, to elaborate. We could have said “sleep.” Though very important, people can live with little to no sleep. We may not excel with little or no sleep, but we can live with it.

You may also think of so many other things that we think we need to survive, but these are the ones we really need.

Air: If you don’t have air, you leave very quickly. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a stifling cell or have a pillow over your head. No air, no prana, no life.

Shelter: Even if people have to leave their shelter; as an example, the Syrians do go out each day into big, open spaces where there is less chance of being killed, because they are visible to drones and satellites and whatever else makes for accountability. At night, they go back home to what is left of their homes. We crave protection from the elements, however real or misguided it is.

Food and Water. I cheated here – these are actually two things aren’t they? Water is a must, whereas you can live a very long time without food. During the Vietnam War protests many people were inspired by Dick Gregory’s three-year-plus lemon, honey and water fast until the war ended and followed his lead. No one perished and he did walk across the nation. We are afraid people will die of hunger strikes. It is not the lack of food but other elements combined with the lack of food that can kill the body and spirit.

Someone or something you care about: The love factor. Love trumps all. If you love, you have something to live for. You have a reason to make it in dire circumstances. It can be a person, a pet, a mission, a vision, but a connection that makes it worth it all to stay here.

Hope: Only Hope and Revenge have proven to keep people alive in concentration camps and other dire straits. Only Hope is worth living for and up to. Revenge will eat you from the inside out. You may keep your body but you lose your humanity.

Let us think about how we can use these things to be more connected and to be greatful for these in each moment of each day.

You may not be living in the situation you hoped to have or, conversely, it may be better than you ever thought possible.

You might live somewhere polluted or, conversely, somewhere with amazing air quality. There is no tax on breathing air yet, so make the most of it and inhale deeply. Focus on making your breathing conscious, as that is what creates Prana, which gives you Apana, the held life force in all your organs. Forced life or life force, you get to choose.

Look at all the people and places and things you care about, and then vow to expand your capacity to hold and behold each of them with grace and love. Be the love king or queen. It’s so cheap to love and yet so prosperous. Love is Love.

Hope. Without this, why live, right? When you lose all hope, do you want to live? When people lose hope for a period of time they want out. We call it suicide, which is an escape valve for lost hope. Let us use our breath to get back to the place of hope so we can uplift others.
Try this.

Back to hope and air, and back to all you have, to serve the glory of all that is sacred. Scared robs you of your sacred. Breathe in hope breath out distress. If you truly are saying yes to this, are you willing to take a few minutes each day to get to a deeply empowered you? Then this is for you: https://gurutej.com/iamempowered